This meeting, which will conclude at 8:00 pm, will be in executive session.(The Regular Session of the Board will open to the public at 8:00 pm.)

In a conversation with Board President Evan Lerner, last Thursday, he confirmed that a mediation session between the Board and the Teachers’ Union took place on December 8th.

He described it as “an interesting session . . . we are in one room, they are in the other . . . it’s a very slow process. You don’t walk away with knowledge of what was accepted.”Lerner added that “We want to get a deal done that is right for both parties.”

He did not, however, discuss any specifics of just what offers, if any, were presented to the mediator to in turn convey to representatives of the Teachers’ Union, or what counter-offers, if any, were proffered by the BREA.

Mr. Lerner may release a statement to the public tomorrow evening, following the executive session.

A failure of the parties to reach a contract agreement last spring and summer was the tipping point which led to the BREA’s decision to formally declare the impasse which sent this issue into mediation.

Closely tied to the unresolved BREA salary and benefits package is the 2012-2013 School Budget which takes effect next July.Since the last three-year agreement with the BREA ended on June 30, 2011, its members are currently working without an agreement.

Tomorrow, at the public session, the agenda calls for Dr. Schilder and Mr. Starrs to present a proposed tentative budget to the public.The figures for this document were assembled not only by the Administration, but in conjunction with the Finance Committee, of which Board Member Lynne Hurley is the Chairperson.

Other Board Members of that Committee include Jeffrey Brookner, Ann Marie Mead (the sole, elected Raritan representative), and Arthur Mathur as alternate.

The final budget to be presented to Bridgewater and Raritan voters on April 17, 2012, must of necessity contain a provision for salary and benefits not only for teachers, but also for principals and supervisors.

Meanwhile, the Finance Committee and the Administration face the question of what amount of 2012-13 salary and benefits, if any, to include as a placeholder in preliminary versions of the budget, and of whether or not, and when, to reveal such line-item detail.